Guide
Talking about travel honestly
Show the people as well as the view, use your own photos, and describe every trip truthfully.
Travel is one of the most natural ways into a conversation about Encounter, and a trip story is an easy place to start. What matters most is honesty.
Three simple rules
Use your own photos and observations. If a trip was independently arranged, describe it that way. Someone else's experience can be shared with clear attribution.
Why people matter more than places
Van Boven and Gilovich found that people said their experiences made them happier than their possessions. Caprariello and Reis later found that experiences shared with others were what people valued most. So when you post, show who you were with, with their permission.
A post to start with
Post idea
“There's one trip I still bring up with friends years later. What's a trip you're still talking about? What made it stick?”
Make it yours
- How would you actually say this? Shift the words to how you really talk, the way you would in a text to this person.
- Which trip do you still bring up?
- Who were you with?
For example: “Five of us rented a house in the Algarve for my fortieth. We cooked together every night, and that's what we still talk about. What trip do you still talk about?”
Read next
The full piece, Why a trip is better with people you know, is on the Trainings page.
Sources
- Van Boven, L., & Gilovich, T. (2003). To do or to have? That is the question. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(6), 1193–1202. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.6.1193
- Caprariello, P. A., & Reis, H. T. (2013). To do, to have, or to share? Valuing experiences over material possessions depends on the involvement of others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104(2), 199–215. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030953
- Encounter team training in Málaga, "An invitation worth sharing," 9 October 2026. Available in the Community.